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Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Opiniano: Pinoy abroad group there and everywhere
By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano
FREMONT, California -- The oldies shrieked in banter. Apologies for the mature toilet humor, but 50-to-near-70-year-old members of the Pangasinan International Charitable Foundation had their own ways of reliving their childhood.
"Pasok ako (I'm in)," shouted Brenda Baltazar in Ilocano, winning a trip to Jerusalem-like contest where the women needed to enter their index fingers to an empty mineral water bottle placed near the groin areas of males. The mature sleaze jokes continued, in fluent Ilocano, as well as the banter. "Brenda practiced last night," said emcee Aurora Langit in laughter after declaring the "acting first lady" the winner (Brenda is Bob's better half, the latter being the acting president of the foundation).
Other parlor games were played, and the banana made the games "ingenious." No explanation needed how those banana games went, but the foundation's members can't stop laughing. "Oh my God, that's so gay," says a daughter who's born here in the US, wondering what their Filipino parents and grandparents were up to.
It was the foundation's annual summer picnic as a way to thank members for their participation in activities that benefited themselves and their kababayans in the Philippines's top source of overseas Filipinos. Travel in various countries, or even in states in the US, and you find Pangasinan group here, group there, group everywhere-from the barangay, municipality, city to the provincial levels. Browse www.pangasinan.org, or type in Google "Pangasinan in (name of country)" and the Pangasinense groups are all over.
Pangasinan groups are among the thousands of what is called hometown associations of Filipinos abroad. And hometown associations are not the only types of Filipino groups overseas: there are neighborhood groups in the Pinoys' overseas residences; charity or nonprofit groups registered abroad; cultural groups doing dances and chorale singing; professional groups of nurses, accountants and other skilled and semi-skilled workers; advocacy groups that support fellow Filipino migrants; Church-run, business-run associations; and many more.
There are an estimated 12,000-plus of these Filipino groups scattered overseas, former labor secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said three years ago. To the homeland-based company, having a list of all those associations (or even in just a single country alone) is a goldmine to market properties, bank products and homegrown food. But to groups such as PICF in the US, Maharlika e.V. in Berlin, Germany, Pinokyos Welfare in Singapore, Filipinos in Bahrain Bowlers' Club and many, many more, being together overseas is an outright reaction.
The formation of these small, unheard-of overseas Filipino associations has been studied as a sociological wonder, or even as a philanthropic phenomenon since many of these associations give back to development causes in rural Philippines and homeland development organizations. If one thinks about it, these associations are the missing "Philippine middle class" that can make a difference back home.
They are the Philippines's biggest donors, says a 2005 book by the Association of Foundations-Philippines. They are the rising Filipino electorate, overseas absentee voting advocates believe. They will be the fulcrum that will lead Philippine society's transition to modernity, says sociologist Randy David.
The potentials of these Filipinos abroad (their groups included) are a promise that can help push for a better Philippines. And some even make attempts at trying to find a way how to muster the overseas Filipino power and influence. Imagine if one day these migrants do not work on June 12 (our Independence Day) in their countries of work: that's one big loss for those countries, and one huge voice for the motherland and for themselves.
A colleague of mine based in Europe once asked in an e-group: How can we unite the Filipinos abroad? Tough question.
One thing, however, is typical of the Filipino groups abroad: they are disunited.
From Pangasinan group 1 to 11 (or Dagupan group A and B, from the same country or state within a country). The names can even confuse you especially when they use the word "international" or "global". As to the reasons why members of these groups can't get along with each other, these vary and that's none of our business. What's saddening, however unfortunate it may seem to see, is this disunity among Filipinos themselves.
There are attempts to bring them all together. The individual hometown groups tried it, and many have failed. New groups are coming up (e-groups even become the venue for such formations), and even global Filipino conventions or conferences are some attempts to bridge the Filipino groupings from various countries (this September 28-October 1 for example, the US-based National Federation of Filipino-American Associations or NaFFAA will convene its fourth Global Filipino Networking Convention in Hawaii. As in the first three editions in San Francisco, Manila and Cebu City, this "Global" convention [repeat: global] will have more Filipino-American participants than those from the Middle East, East Asia, Europe, the Pacific, and even Africa).
Some Filipino old-timers here would even narrate the history of why this and that Filipino group was split during the 1960s, and law suits and petty arguments were even involved.
Perhaps there is no single best way to put these groups altogether. For one, the conditions vary by country, though the contract workers in the Middle East can learn a thing or two from the permanent residents in North America and Europe, who can learn from those in Africa or the Pacific islands. Whatever is happening back home is overseas Filipinos's concern, but whatever happens to a Filipino in one of those 193 countries may be something that is concern of overseas Pinoys from any part of the world (it can be interesting to see if Filipino Americans talk about overseas Filipinos concerns with leaders of domestic workers organizations in Hong Kong, despite the economic status of those from the latter groups).
For another, let these groups enjoy their comfort zone. Regionalism and working individually will not be gone but if, for example, these hometown associations pool money and invest it or entrust it to an NGO with a development project, that will be the positive side of the group splits. Migration and development advocates even think this is a direction towards luring migration's resources for local economic development in the motherland. So groups like the Banians of the USA, the Papaya Novo Ecijano in Belgium, and the Aguman Kapampangan in the United Arab Emirates are in the right direction, especially when think tank development groups help them.
It will be humanly impossible to form one very solid global Filipino network, or a Filipinos-for-the-planet-earth coalition where members and member-groups are on equal terms (no matter if they are documented or undocumented migrants, or successful and unsuccessful overseas Pinoys). But what can be possible are not just the individual and manageable efforts to help fellow migrants and the birthplaces in the Philippines, or tactical coalitions over issues that many may agree in principle.
Human respect, openness, and contrition for people's mistakes are also possible. If these Filipino migrants and their varied affiliations are willing to do this among each other in their remaining times on earth is entirely up to them. There are some inspiring examples: Metro Infanta Foundation, based in Colorado, USA but formed with 400 Infantanhins from varied parts of the world, is one example-and its formula works.
Under an environment with open human relations, don't mind if whites look at your migrant group and laugh at your ingenious parlor games, your beauty pageants, or your English or French speaking with an accent. You're Filipino, and beneath your banter are a vision for human betterment and an aspiration for renewed friendly Pinoy warmth and trust.
Comments are welcome at ofw_philanthropy@yahoo.com.
(Jeremaiah M. Opiniano of the Institute for Migration and Development Issues (www.filipinodiaspoiragiving.org) is in San Francisco, USA as a Yuchengco Media Fellow at the University of San Francisco-Center for the Pacific Rim. He is representing the OFW Journalism Consortium (www.ofwjournalism.net) during the three-month fellowship that is focused on writing about overseas Filipinos.)
(September 12, 2006 issue)
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